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JUMP TO:
🎵 1989 – FOREVER YOUR GIRL / Paula Abdul
🎵 1979 – REUNITED / Peaches & Herb
🎬 1969 – GET BACK / The Beatles with Billy Preston (“Rooftop Concert” from the film ‘Let It Be’)
🎵 1959 – KANSAS CITY / Wilbert Harrison
EXTRA:
🎵 1952 – K.C. LOVING (Kansas City) / Little Willie Littlefield
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Welcome to another installment of #1 Songs On This Date and the final one in 2016 to feature the month of May!
Since it began during the first week of January, 2016 – including this post – 224 distinct number one singles from the years 1956 through 1995 have been featured – with hundreds more to follow.
They’re all part of a permanent archive that’s being built at HouseoftheHits.com which will ultimately feature ALL 837 different number one singles as listed in 2,080 weekly national music charts published by Billboard® within that 40-year timeframe.
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Fortunately, HouseoftheHits has every one of those charts – plus secondary data – as published in the essential Joel Whitburn’s Record Research series (CD-ROM and eBook edition formats).
Everything is stored digitally on a HouseoftheHits computer – as are all 837 number one singles (in high-quality audio) from the music vault.
With the availability of precise data and the HOTH song files – together with some amazing technology – approximately 600 – 700 of those Billboard® chart-toppers will be presented this year – with the remainder to follow in early 2017.
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As the archive grows you will have continual free access to the accumulating repository, indexed by Decade, Month and Year. Plus, EVERY Title and Artist will be (blue) hyper-linked for smooth, easy navigation from song to song – with more great features to be added along the way.
Again, it will contain every #1 single in America, plus interesting commentary about each song (written by yours truly) and presented with a crystal clear High-Definition audio version of the complete original hit to instantly play as often as you wish.
The ever-expanding library is found HERE and you can bookmark this link for future instant access.
Enjoy!
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[NOTE]
Due to copyright issues, some audio song files may not play on smartphones, tablets and connected devices. Whenever possible, an alternate working audio source will be provided, but a PC, Mac or laptop may ultimately be required in some cases.
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#1 / May 30th, 1989
FOREVER YOUR GIRL
Paula Abdul
[1989]
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: I’LL BE THERE FOR YOU / Bon Jovi
Succeeded by: ROCK ON / Michael Damian
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Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul was the first big hit – and eventual signature song – for the ex-choreographer and cheerleader with the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Seeking something similar to the “Minnesota Sound” popularized by native son, Prince, Abdul discovered the work of a fledgling Minneapolis songwriter-producer named Oliver Leiber.
If that surname sounds familiar, Leiber came from an impressive pedigree, being the son of Jerry Leiber of the iconic Leiber and (Mike) Stoller Pop/R&B songwriting team.
Determined to make an impact outside of the senior Leiber’s influence, Oliver kept quiet about his famous father and worked his way up unaided, living in a cramped apartment where he created music tracks in his bedroom.
The younger Leiber would also write and produce the future Abdul hits (It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me (1989 • #3) and her fourth chart-topper, Opposites Attract, a 1990 pairing with The Wild Pair.
https://youtu.be/WLXQTYL6tPo
Other #1 Singles by PAULA ABDUL (6)
• 1989 / STRAIGHT UP
• 1989 / COLD HEARTED
• 1990 / OPPOSITES ATTRACT (with The Wild Pair)
• 1991 / RUSH, RUSH
• 1991 / THE PROMISE OF A NEW DAY
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#1 / May 30th, 1979
REUNITED
Peaches & Herb
[1979]
Number One: 4 weeks
Replaced: HEART OF GLASS / Blondie
Succeeded by: HOT STUFF / Donna Summer
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Indeed, the story of the R&B vocal duo Peaches & Herb was a tale of three ‘Peaches.’
In 1967, Herb Fame, from Washington DC, teamed up with Francine “Peaches” Barker and together they scored a #8 song on Billboard called Close You Eyes.
After a couple of Top 20 follow-ups – cover versions of Ed Townsend‘s For Your Love (1967 • #20) and the Mickey & Sylvia classic Love Is Strange (1967 • #13) – Barker quit the duo, citing the rigors of touring.
Fame, born Herbert Feemster, was left to seek a replacement, finding Marlene Mack, and from 1968-1969 Mack was the ‘Peaches du Jour.’
A series of abject chart failures ensued, followed by Mack’s departure and Fame’s ‘retirement’ from the music business in 1970. The latter enrolled in the police academy of the nation’s capitol and then toiled as a DC cop for the next six years.
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But in 1976, Fame decided to form a new P&H, this time with Linda Greene, a DC vocalist trained at the area’s prestigious Sewell Music Conservatory.
The third time was the charm for Peaches & Herb, as Fame and Greene became the most successful incarnation of the duo.
First came a moderately successful album for MCA called Peaches & Herb, followed by Herb and Linda signing a new deal with MVP/Polydor, a move which led to an album titled 2 Hot.
Two ‘hot’ singles emerged from that work – first, the funky, up-tempo Shake Your Groove Thing (1978 • #5, million-seller) with it’s successor, the love ballad Reunited, scaling the Hot 100 right to its summit and achieving platinum status.
https://youtu.be/XMj8qKDjqWM
[Trivia Bits] After recording seven albums together, Fame and Greene again retired the duo, with the former going back to law enforcement – this time joining the U.S. Marshals Service.
But Fame would again return to music to ‘shake the tree’ twice more, producing ‘Peaches’ numbers four and five: Patrice Hawthorne and a female vocalist named Miriamm, respectively.
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#1 / May 30th, 1969
GET BACK
The Beatles with Billy Preston
[1969]
(“Rooftop Concert” from the film Let It Be)
Number One: 5 weeks
Replaced: AQUARIUS/LET THE SUNSHINE IN (The Flesh Failures) / The Fifth Dimension
Succeeded by: LOVE THEME FROM ‘ROMEO AND JULIET’ / Henry Mancini
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Get Back was the 17th of a record-holding 20 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers for the Beatles, following on the heels of their all-time biggest single, the quadruple platinum-selling Hey Jude, which spent 9 weeks at #1 in the fall of 1968.
With GB officially being listing as by “The Beatles with Billy Preston,” it marked the first and only time a name other than simply “The Beatles” appeared on any of their record labels.
[Note] “The Beatles with Tony Sheridan” was found on some of their early pre-EMI Parlophone/Capitol recordings – specifically on the Polydor/MGM labels – but that occurred when they were primarily backing artists for the UK rock ‘n roll singer.
Preston, the Houston, TX keyboardist who also became known as the ‘fifth Beatle,’ played on both Get Back and the single’s B-side, Don’t Let Me Down and also appeared in the “Rooftop Concert” performances of both (see below).
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Due to worldwide copyright restrictions, the studio-recorded hit version of Get Back cannot be used here.
Presented instead is this 22-minutes long “Rooftop Concert” segment from their final film ‘Let It Be,’ – ultimately their very last public performance as a group.
On this clip, the song Get Back is just a part of various rehearsals, sound checks and false starts for several other tracks from their forthcoming Let It Be album, including Don’t Let Me Down, Dig A Pony, One After 909 and I’ve Got A Feeling.
The impromptu concert took place on January 30th, 1969 on the roof high atop the Fab Four’s Apple Corps Ltd. headquarters at 3 Savile Row during the height of a weekday lunch hour in mid-town London.
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The fact that ‘Let It Be’ is the only Beatles movie not to be digitally remastered and re-released in any high-definition configuration – including DVD, Blu-ray and streaming – is puzzling. The film was briefly available in the now-defunct VHS tape and lesser-known laser disc formats, but both are now long out-of-print.
Despite the audio and video quality of either discontinued product being sub-standard, this copy has somehow been cleaned up to give it excellent clarity.
https://vimeo.com/95681569
FURTHER READING: The “Rooftop Concert”
[Trivia Bits] The ‘Let It Be’ video project initially was intended to be a made-for-British TV documentary, including a ‘live’ concert broadcast. However, when the latter part of the plan failed to materialize, the endeavor turned into a full-length film.
Get Back was the original title of the Let It Be album. But after the Let It Be single rose to #1 in 1970, Apple Records changed the name of the LP to piggyback it to the success of the 45.
Other #1 Singles by THE BEATLES (20)
• 1964 / I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND
• 1964 / SHE LOVES YOU
• 1964 / CAN’T BUY ME LOVE
• 1964 / LOVE ME DO
• 1964 / A HARD DAY’S NIGHT
• 1964 / I FEEL FINE
• 1965 / EIGHT DAYS A WEEK
• 1965 / TICKET TO RIDE
• 1965 / HELP!
• 1965 / YESTERDAY
• 1966 / WE CAN WORK IT OUT
• 1966 / PAPERBACK WRITER
• 1967 / PENNY LANE
• 1967 / ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
• 1967 / HELLO GOODBYE
• 1968 / HEY JUDE
• 1969 / COME TOGETHER b/w SOMETHING
• 1970 / LET IT BE
• 1970 / THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
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#1 / May 30th, 1959
KANSAS CITY
Wilbert Harrison
[1959]
Number One: 2 weeks
Replaced: THE HAPPY ORGAN / Dave “Baby” Cortez
Succeeded by: THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS / Johnny Horton
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Singer Wilbert Harrison‘s cover version of an eventual R&B standard known as Kansas City hit the top on this date in 1959 – a recording on which the multi-talented North Carolinian played most of the instruments, including guitar, drums and piano.
Kansas City had been one of the earliest notable songs penned by the famed songwriting duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
That was in 1952, the same year in which they wrote “Big Mama” Thornton’s original recording of Hound Dog – later a part of Elvis Presley‘s double-sided #1 monster hit in 1956 (b/w Don’t Be Cruel).
That year also saw the first recording of KC by a Texas blues singer named Little Willie Littlefield, whose version can be found below.
https://youtu.be/wamtOjqrY_I
[Trivia Bits] Kansas City by Wilbert Harrison is the first and only single to enter Billboard’s Hot 100 at its bare minimum position – #100 – and climb all the way to #1.
After his success with Kansas City, Harrison be would absent from the Hot 100 for 10 years, returning in 1969 with the semi-hit Let’s Work Together (#32).
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Incredibly, four other recordings of Kansas City were issued as singles virtually simultaneous to Harrison’s hit in the spring of 1959: a re-release of Littlefield’s original, one by Rockin’ Ronald, plus Hot 100-charting versions from Hank Ballard and The Midnighters (#72) and Rocky Olson (#60). Then, to add to the glut, Specialty Records released a fifth additional version only days later by Little Richard. That one barely charted at #95.
Richard would later record a composite version of Kansas City coupled with a song of his own called Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey. It was that medley which was covered by the Beatles and appeared on their 1964 UK album Beatles For Sale, then on 1965’s North American LP Beatles VI.
Listen to Little Richard‘s Kansas City and Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey along with the Beatles cover version of the latter at this HOTH Original Presentation from 2015 – THE BEATLES: ‘Under The Influence’ Part 2.
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EXTRA TRAK
K.C. LOVING (Kansas City)
Little Willie Littlefield
[1952]
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Here is Little Willie Littlefield‘s original recording of Kansas City from 1952.
Note the actual title of this version. The record’s producer, Ralph Bass changed it to K.C. Loving, believing it was more hip to use just the letters “K.C.” and add “Loving” to the title – moves which didn’t sit well with either Jerry Leiber or Mike Stoller.
https://youtu.be/AKKzqqg2cTw
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CREDITS
Produced & Written By: Rick Murray Hunter / HouseoftheHits.com
Songs Source: The Music Vault of HouseoftheHits Inc.
Billboard® Chart Data: Joel Whitburn’s Record Research (eBook Editions)
References:
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits (5th Edition) by Fred Bronson
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Rhythm & Blues Hits by Adam White and Fred Bronson
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt
• The Billboard Book Of Number One Albums by Craig Rosen
• The Billboard’s Hottest Hot 100 Hits (4th Edition) by Fred Bronson
• 1000 UK Chart Hits (Kindle Edition) by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh
• All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Beatles Release (Kindle Edition) by Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon
• The Beatles’ Story On Capitol Records / Part One: The Singles (Digital Edition) by Bruce Spizer
• The Beatles’ Story On Capitol Records / Part Two: The Albums (Digital Edition) by Bruce Spizer
• The website BeatlesBible.com
• The Archives of RollingStone.com
Record Sleeve & Label Graphics: Courtesy of 45cat.com
Special thanks to the patio of Starbucks, Little Road in New Port Richey, FL 😎
Other #1 Songs on This Date Posts are HERE
